Improvement in refrigerators



2 Sheets-SheenL J. J. BATE.

Refrigerator.

No.l 222,122. Patented Dec. 2, |879.

zeheets-sheet 2.

J. J. BATE. Refrigerator. No. 222,122. Patented Dec. 2, |879,l

`JOHN BATE, OF BROOKLYN, YORK.

,i-MP- RoM-EMENT IN tRE-FiR-lci'afaA-rlo as.

Speci-iication fomning part-of Letters 'Patent No. 222,122, dated December 2 1879, applicationiled August 16, 187e.

To atl-.whom it mag/.concerne Re `it known that I, OHNJ. BATEfof Brooklyn, .in fthe eountyof Kin-gs .and Stateof N ew `into practice.

Myisaid lin-ventiel] enables meat and other perishable articlesof `food tozbe preserved with a much less lwaste-of ice than is theicase with the methods of yrefrigeration `'by 'the [use .0f tice hitherto known.

:Figurel `is .a vertical `sectional view, Frepresenting :an apparatus Aembracing .certain mechanicail .features .embraced :in my said :invention, and Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional `view thereof. Fig. ,3 Aisa vertical sectional view of said apparatus provided with certain accessories, that may be used in connection .therewith when desired, and Fig.-4iis;a1like view of the same fitted with further accessories, which may also on occasion `be employed.

A is the refrigerating-chamber, in which are placed the articles to be preserved. When in use this chamber is closed, and its inner walls should be made air-tight, either by means of a sheet-metal lining soldered at the joints or by other `suitable means, and of such strength and construction as to bear a pressure in an inward direction of from seven or eight to ten. pounds tothe square inch, more or less. Bis anice-box, which receives the ice used to insure the requisite degree of refrigeration.

The ice-box may be arran ged as represented in Fig. 1, the ice resting upon a grate or system of slats, a, at a suitable distance from the floor, and with an opening, b, at the bottom, and another, c, at the top, so that the air contained within the chamber A, entering the ice-box at the top through the openingc, and being cooled by contact with the ice, will descend through the ice-box and out through the opening b back to the chamber A, a constant circulation of airthrough theehamber Abeing by this means obtained. This is the simpler formof chamber and gice-,l-iox.

When desired, a fan-blower, C, connected with the ice-box by a pipe, d, nsubstantially as `shown 3, may `be ,used .to give greater foreeiand .detenmi-na-te direction to the `circulation of the `air :within theehamberA. W'hen said chamber vis ilangeor of irregular form, so that itis desirable to `cause the air to pass more `directly to different `parts .ot'isaidchamben one Aor more distributing-conduits, D, may :be connected by pipes A B .with the fan-.blower vand zwith the ice-lboX,.asirepresen'ted in Fi 4. 'This conduitorconduitssDmay be :perforated at intervals, vasishown .at a.

So .far as concerns :the structure-and relative arrangements j ust hereinbefore set forthiof Ythe .chamber A,-the fan-blower, and .the air-distributing conduit .or conduits, the same are not novel, and, apart ifrom their .combination with other elements, ,as 4:hereinafter sta-ted, are ynot .hereelaimed Eis .an air-pump, which may ibe .operated 'from .a `steam-engine,either direct-acting, as shown fbyfthe loca-tion of the steam-cylinder LF and vits ,adjuncts in 1Fig.3, or by a steam- .engine .or other suitable motor arranged in any other appropriate manner. The air-pump E may be ot' any suitable construction, and is so connected With the chamber A, as shown at (3f-as, for example, by a suitable pipe, as represented-that by its operation it draws air from the interior of the chambertA, thus creating a partial eacuum therein.

I am aware that the preservation ot' perishable articles ot' food by placing them in a vacuum more or less approaching a perfect vacnum has been many times proposed; but such is Wholly different from my method, hereinafter set forth, and said hitherto known method therefore I do not claim.

G is a small pump for removing from the apparatus the water resulting from the melting of the ice in the ice-box. It may be operated from the motor which drives the airpump, orby any o-her suitable means. Its

inlet-pipe g extends to--` e trough m underneath the ice-box.

In the Working of the inven rongthe airpump is put in operation to exhaust frbmthe chamber A a portion of the air contained therein, "as indicated by the dotted arrows in Fig. 1. rllhis is continued until the atmosphere Within said chamber has its density reduced or attenuated, say, one-half, more or less, when the operation of the air-pump is caused to cease for the time being. The attenuated, or, so to speak, rareiied, atmosphere remaining Within thechamber, circulates through the ice-box, and thence back to the chamber, as hereinbefore stated, and as shown by the solid arrows in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, being, of course,cooled thereby, andin its cooled condition coming in contact With the meat, vegetables, or fruit, Whatever they may be, suitably placed in thev chamber. Inasmuch as the attenuated atmosphere Within the chamber includes only one-half (more or less) the actual quantity of air that the chamber would contain of the ordinary unattenuated atmosphere, it follows that a proportionately smaller quantity of ice is sufficient to reduce the tempera ture to any given degree, the economy of ice being in proportion to the attenuation of the atmosphere Within the chamber A, so long as this attenuation is not carried to such an extent as to practically prevent the due and proper circulation of the said attenuated atmosphere. In general, moreover, the greater the attenuation of said atmosphere the greater the desirability, or, in extreme cases, the necessity, of the fan-blower to urge 0r assist the circulation.

The attenuation of the atmosphere Within the 4chamber causes the disengagement of vapors, gases,.&c., from the lneat or other articles placed inthe chamber for preservation. When this has occurred to any sensible degree the air-pump may be again set in motion to again attenuate the contained atmosphere to the same diminished density as before.

The Water resulting from theV melting of the ice in the ice-box is collected in the trough below, and at intervals is drawn oft' by the pump Gr.

/Vhat I claim as my invention is- 1. rIhe herein-described process of preserving meats, vegetables, fruits, Svc., by subjecting the same to the action of an attenuated atmosphere cooled by repeated contact with ice, substantially as herein set forth.

2. A preserving apparatus comprising, in combination, the following elements, viz: a closed chamber for containing the articles to be preserved, an air-'pump for attenuatingthc atmosphere within said chamber, and an icebox for cooling the attenuated air, with or Without a fan-blower for circulating said attenuated air, the ice-box and refrigeratingchamber being both contained in an air-tight covering or structure, and the air in the refrigerating-chamber being cooled by repeated contacts with the ice, substantially as herein set forth.

3. The combination of the pump for Withdrawing the Water resulting from the melting of the ice with the chamber, the air-pump, and the ice-box, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A refrigerator or apparatus for preservation ot' food, composed of the following 'elements: iirst, a closed chamber; second, an ice-box in communication with said chamber; third, an airpump in communication with the refrigerating-chamber through its inlet-valve; fourth, a pump for removing the drip; and, fifth, a fan-blower communicating Withsaid refrigerating-chamber and With the ice-box, and arranged to cause a circulation again and again of the atmosphere of the aforesaid refrigerating-chamber through the ice-box, s-ubstantially as described.

` JOHN J. BATE.

Vitnesses A. R. PAGE, H. WnLLs, Jr. 

